Iranian authorities seized five British sailors after their racing yacht may have strayed into Iranian territorial waters, British authorities said Monday.

The group was sailing a 60-foot Volvo racing yacht from Bahrain to Dubai last Wednesday when they were “stopped by Iranian naval vessels,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement. “The yacht was on its way from Bahrain to Dubai and may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. The five crew members are still in Iran.”

Last month, Iran accused three American hikers who were taken into custody in July while trekking on the Iran-Iraq border of espionage. Their families have denied the allegations.

The seizure of the sailors comes against a backdrop of difficult diplomatic relations between U.S. and European leaders and the Iranians, intensified by a long-standing dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. On Sunday, Iran announced plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants. The Iranians say their program is for energy and medical use, but the United States and the European nations are concerned that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon.

David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, said in a statement that the British government contacted Iranian authorities on Wednesday night to “both to seek clarification and to try and resolve the matter swiftly” and “remain in close touch.” While the United States no longer maintains a mission in Iran, Britain has an embassy in Tehran.

Let’s recap, Iran is the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism, they kidnap American and British citizens with impunity, they’re directly responsible for the deaths of American and NATO troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, they thumb their noses at international censure and continue moving full speed ahead to develop nuclear weapons, and they threaten to wipe Israel off the map at least once a week, etc., etc.

/how much longer is the civilized world going to put up with this [expletive deleted] before they actually do something meaningful to bring the Iranian Mullahs, who are hell bent on creating global chaos, to heel?